Monaghan's unbeaten run came to an end at Healy Park, but only after a heroic effort with 13 men, as Tyrone's promising season took another positive turn.

After the Farney men's heroics in Killarney, Malachy O'Rourke arrived with a team he felt was equipped to claim another big scalp, but the outcome was defined by the pace and finishing power of Mickey Harte's exciting young outfit.

The Farney men had to play almost the entire second half two players short, after Fintan Kelly and Dermot Malone were sent off - on a second yellow and a straight red respectively - and they made a game of it, after being out-played in the opening period.

Healy Park survived a pitch inspection earlier in the day, thus avoiding a second successive postponement.

Tyrone's supremely effective defensive system squeezed the life out of a succession of Monaghan attacks, and forced to shoot from distance, they racked up a succession of wides.

It took the visitors 25 minutes to register their opening score, from Jack McCarron, and by that stage they had fallen four points. Conor Meyler, Tiernan McCann, Darren McCurry and Frank Burns all sent over spectacular scores, and Peter Harte also missed a penalty, awarded for a foul on Mattie Donnelly.

Harte made amends with three points, one a stunning effort from distance, and McCann and Justin McMahon also found the target as Tyrone surged to a 0-9 to 0-2 interval lead.

After the red cards, Monaghan battled bravely with Conor McManus's '45' and a brilliant sideline ball from McCarron.

Goalkeeper Rory Beggan sent over two long-range frees, and when Kieran Hughes finished off a patient move on 56 minutes, the deficit was down to three.

But Tyrone resorted to a possession game and once more began to create openings. Substitute Sean Cavanagh converted a free, and McCurry smashed a shot against the bar.

But still Monaghan refused to go away, pulling another point back through McManus, but Cavanagh turned on the magic to stretch his side's lead to four with a trademark shimmy and point.

Hughes responded, keeping the game in the balance as it drifted into stoppage time, but Harte's fourth point and a couple of Sean Cavanagh specials helped Tyrone over the line, with a lot less comfort than they would have wished for.